Spitzer View of Planetary Nebula NGC 246
This image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows a dying star (center) surrounded by a cloud of glowing gas and dust. Spitzer has pierced through the dust to highlight a never-before-seen feature -- a giant ring of material (red) slightly offset from the cloud's core which consists of...
A Pinwheel Galaxy Rainbow
This image of the Pinwheel Galaxy, or M101, combines data in the infrared, visible, ultraviolet and x-rays from four of NASAs space telescopes. This multi-spectral view shows that both young and old stars are evenly distributed along M101s tightly-wound spiral arms. Such composite images allow...
Bubbly Little Star: HH 46/47
A new image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows a baby star 1,140 light-years away from Earth blowing two massive "bubbles." But instead of bubble gum, this youngster, called HH 46/47, is using powerful jets of gas to make bubbles in outer space.
This artist's concept depicts a faraway solar system like our own except for one big difference. Planets and asteroids circle around not one, but two suns. NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope found evidence that such solar systems might be common in the Universe
Using data from NASA's Kepler and Spitzer Space Telescopes, scientists have made the most precise measurement ever of the size of a world outside our solar system, as illustrated in this artist's conception The diameter of the exoplanet, dubbed Kepler-93b, is now known with an uncertainty of just...
All That Remains of Exploded Star
Infrared images from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer are combined in this image of RCW 86, the dusty remains of the oldest documented example of an exploding star, or supernova.
Visible Light Image of BHR 71
Two rambunctious young stars are destroying their natal dust cloud with powerful jets of radiation. The stars are located approximately 600 light-years away in a cosmic cloud called BHR 71.
Little Galaxy Explored
The infrared portrait of the Small Magellanic Cloud reveals the stars and dust in this galaxy as never seen before.
Red Giant Plunging Through Space
This image from the Spitzer Space Telescope (left panel) shows the "bow shock" of a dying star named R Hydrae (R Hya) in the constellation Hydra.
NGC 3627 (M66)
This image of spiral galaxy NGC 3627, also known as Messier 66, was captured by the Spitzer Infrared Nearby Galaxy Survey (SINGS) Legacy Project using the Spitzer Space Telescope's Infrared Array Camera (IRAC).
Galactic Metropolis
In this recent deep excavation, courtesy of NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, astronomers have unearthed what may be the most distant, primitive cluster of galaxies ever found. In a twist, however, this apparent ancestor to today's "big cities" of grouped galaxies looks shockingly modern.
Spitzer SWIRE Field ELAIS-N1
This spectacular infrared image, taken by the Spitzer Wide-area Infrared Extragalactic (SWIRE) Legacy project, encapsulates one of the primary objectives of the Spitzer mission: to connect the evolution of galaxies from the distant, or early, universe to the nearby, or present day, universe.
Seeing Crystals Form Around a Young Star
Astronomers have had a rare opportunity to witness the creation of silicate crystals around a young star, as seen in this data plot from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.
Trigger-Happy Cloud
This composite image, combining data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and Spitzer Space Telescope shows the star-forming cloud Cepheus B, located in our Milky Way galaxy about 2,400 light years from Earth.
Infrared View of NGC 4993, Host Galaxy to a Neutron Star Merger
NASAs Spitzer Space Telescope has provisionally detected the faint afterglow of the explosive merger of two neutron stars in the galaxy NGC 4993. This image shows the Spitzer data, but the faint light from the explosion is to faint to be easily seen mixed in the light of the other stars in the...
Spitzer and Hubble View of the Sombrero Galaxy
NASA's Spitzer and Hubble Space Telescopes joined forces to create this striking composite image of one of the most popular sights in the universe. Messier 104 is commonly known as the Sombrero galaxy but in this striking visible-infrared view, the galaxy looks more like a "bull's eye."
Galaxies in Hiding
There are nearly 200 galaxies in this image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. These are part of the Perseus-Pisces supercluster of galaxies located 250 million light-years away. Normally, galaxies beyond our Milky Way are hidden from view when they happen to fall behind the plane of our...
Stellar Jets
This artist concept illustrates jets of material shooting out from the neutron star in the interacting binary system 4U 0614+091.
Planets having atmospheres rich in helium may be common in our galaxy, according to a new theory based on data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.
Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 4145
This infrared picture shows a relatively calm galaxy called NGC 4145. This galaxy has already made most of its stars and has little star-forming activity. It is located 68 million light-years away in the constellation Canes Venatici. Blue shows starlight and dust.
The Jack-o-Lantern Nebula
This carved-out cloud of gas and dust has been nicknamed the "Jack-o'-lantern Nebula" because it looks like a cosmic hollowed-out pumpkin. Powerful outflows of radiation and particles from a massive star known as an O-type star and about 15 to 20 times heavier than the Sun has likely swept the...
Dark World (Full)
This artist's illustration depicts the exoplanet LHS 3844b, which is 1.3 times the mass of Earth and orbits an M dwarf star. The planet's surface may be covered mostly in dark lava rock, with no apparent atmosphere, according to observations by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.
Dusty Elliptical Galaxy Centaurus A
This image taken by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows in unprecedented detail the galaxy Centaurus A's last big meal: a spiral galaxy seemingly twisted into a parallelogram-shaped structure of dust. Spitzer's ability to see dust and also see through it allowed the telescope to peer into the...
This artist's concept shows the violent core of a pair of colliding galaxies and the delicate greenish crystals that are sprinkled throughout the core.
Scientists "fish" for galaxies in this playful, digitally altered photo. The researchers are part of a program called SPLASH, which is using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope to dive deep into the cosmic sea and find some of the most remote galaxies known.
The Seven Sisters (Pleiades) Pose for Spitzer and for You!
The Seven Sisters, also known as the Pleiades, seem to float on a bed of feathers in a new infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Clouds of dust sweep around the stars, swaddling them in a cushiony veil.
Large Magellanic Cloud in the Infrared
This vibrant image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy to our own Milky Way galaxy.
Planet X: New Member of our Solar System
This artist's concept shows the planet catalogued as 2003UB313 at the lonely outer fringes of our solar system. The new planet, which is yet to be formally named, is at least as big as Pluto and about three times farther away from the Sun than Pluto.
Crystal Rain
Olivine crystals were spotted by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope in a collapsing cloud of gas surrounding an embryonic star called HOPS-68.
The super-Earth exoplanet 55 Cancri e, depicted with its star in this artist's concept, likely has an atmosphere thicker than Earth's, with ingredients that could be similar to those of Earth's atmosphere.
Galactic Train Wreck
This image shows an example of colliding galaxies from a new photo atlas of galactic "train wrecks".
GLIMPSE the Galaxy All the Way Around
A new panorama from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows us our galaxy's plane all the way around us in infrared light.
Distant Galaxy Cluster
This distant galaxy cluster was discovered using data from the space-based Spitzer Space Telescope and the ground-based Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Tucson, Ariz.
A GLIMPSE of the Milky Way
In visible light, the bulk of our Milky Way galaxy's stars are eclipsed behind thick clouds of galactic dust and gas. But to the infrared eyes of NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, distant stars and dust clouds shine with unparalleled clarity and color.
Lump of Planetary Stuff
This artist's conception shows a lump of material in a swirling, planet-forming disk.
It's Twins! Spitzer Finds Hidden Jet
NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope took this image of a baby star sprouting two identical jets.
Multiwavelength composite image of Messier 81
The magnificent spiral arms of the nearby galaxy Messier 81 are highlighted in this image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Located in the northern constellation of Ursa Major (which also includes the Big Dipper), this galaxy is easily visible through binoculars or a small telescope.
NASAs Spitzer Space Telescope has detected buckyballs - intriguing, miniature-soccer-ball-shaped molecules - in interstellar space for the first time.
This artist's concept illustrates an imminent planetary collision around a pair of double stars. NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope found evidence that such collisions could be common around a certain type of tight double, or binary, star system, referred to as RS Canum Venaticorums or RS CVns for...
Five Views of Spitzer
Spitzer rendered from five different angles. The Spitzer Space Telescope rendered from five different angles.
Star Formation in RCW 49
One of the most prolific birthing grounds in our Milky Way galaxy, a nebula called RCW 49, is exposed in superb detail for the first time in this image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Located 13,700 light-years away in the southern constellation Centaurus, RCW 49 is a dark and dusty stellar...
This illustration shows what the TRAPPIST-1 system might look like from a vantage point near planet TRAPPIST-1f.
Riding a Trail of Debris
This image taken by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows the comet Encke riding along its pebbly trail of debris (long diagonal line) between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. This material actually encircles the solar system, following the path of Encke's orbit.
Artist's Impression of Massive Star Cluster
This is an illustration of one of the most massive star clusters within our Milky Way Galaxy, containing 14 rare red supergiant stars and an estimated an estimated 20,000 stars. In the background at the 12:00 position is a distant region of stars called W 42.
A Galaxy on the Edge
The thin edge of a distant spiral galaxy appears in sharp relief in the new image from NASAs Spitzer Space Telescope. Infrared light gives astronomers a unique way of seeing the distribution of stars in such well-aligned galaxies.
Kepler's "De Stella Nova" (1606)
Johannes Kepler documented the explosion of a supernova in 1604, which he documented in this book, "De Stella Nova" (Prague, 1606)
Crab Nebula Supernova Remnant (Spitzer/IRAC-MIPS Image)
The Crab Nebula is the shattered remnant of a massive star that ended its life in a massive supernova explosion. This image obtained by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows the combined near-infrared and mid-infrared view of this complex object.
Crab Nebula from Five Observatories
In the summer of the year 1054 AD, Chinese astronomers saw a new "guest star," that appeared six times brighter than Venus. So bright in fact, it could be seen during the daytime for several months.
Hot, Carbon-Rich Planet
This artist's concept shows the searing-hot gas planet WASP-12b (orange orb) and its star.
Spitzer Eyes Comet ISON
These images from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope of Comet ISON were taken on June 13, when ISON was 310 million miles from the sun.
Bursting with Stars: Starburst Galaxy Zw II 96
This image of starburst galaxy Zw II 96 shows what the "Baby Boom" galaxy may look like at closer range.
Steamy Solar System (Annotated)
This diagram illustrates the earliest journeys of water in a young, forming star system.
Bow Shocks in Space G054.32
Bow shocks thought to mark the paths of massive, speeding stars are highlighted in this image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.
Little Dumbbell Nebula
This planetary nebula, known as NGC 650 or the Little Dumbbell, is about 2,500 light-years from Earth in the Perseus constellation.
Spitzer/MIPS image of Star Formation in Henize 206
Within the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a nearby and irregularly-shaped galaxy seen in the Southern Hemisphere, lies a star-forming region heavily obscured by interstellar dust. NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has used its infrared eyes to poke through the cosmic veil to reveal a striking nebula...
This artist's concept shows what a fiery hot star and its close-knit planetary companion might look close up if viewed in infrared light. In infrared, a star is less blinding, and its planet perks up with a fiery glow.
Galaxy IRAS F00183-7111
NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has detected the building blocks of life in the distant universe, albeit in a violent milieu. Training its powerful infrared eye on a faint object located at a distance of 3.2 billion light-years (inset), Spitzer has observed the presence of water and organic...
Birth of an Earth-like Planet
This artist's conception shows a binary-star, or two-star, system, called HD 113766, where astronomers suspect a rocky Earth-like planet is forming around one of the stars. At approximately 10 to 16 million years old, astronomers suspect this star is at just the right age for forming rocky planets.
Spitzer Captures Messier 87 (EHT)
This wide-field image of the galaxy M87 was taken by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. The top inset shows a close-up of two shockwaves, created by a jet emanating from the galaxy's supermassive black hole. The Event Horizon Telescope recently took a close-up image of the silhouette of that black...
Scientists were excited to discover clear skies on a relatively small planet, about the size of Neptune, using the combined power of NASA's Hubble, Spitzer and Kepler space telescopes.
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